While in Prague, Beethoven composed four short pieces for mandolin for the Countess Josephine de Clary, who was an amateur mandolinist as well as a singer. These four pieces have been catalogued as WoO 43a, 43b, 44a, and 44b. I’ll present WoO 43 today and WoO 44 tomorrow.
Beethoven almost always composed piano accompaniments, but the scores for these mandolin pieces indicate a Cembalo (German for harpsichord), and there are no dynamic markings typical in piano scores. Perhaps the Countess only had a harpsichord in her home.
Beethoven’s four pieces for mandolin and harpsichord are his only known works for either of these two instruments. They are not well known except, of course, among mandolinists, who naturally cherish them. Most often, a piano is substituted for the harpsichord.
#Beethoven250 Day 71
Sonatina in C Minor for Mandolin and Harpsichord (WoO 43a), 1796
The mandolin part is here played on a bandurria by Madrid-based musicians.
#Beethoven250 Day 71
Sonatina in C Minor for Mandolin and Harpsichord (WoO 43a), 1796
An elegant performance in Rome with Francesco Mirarchi on the mandolin and Annarita Santagada on piano.
#Beethoven250 Day 71
Adagio in E♭ for Mandolin and Harpsichord (WoO 43b), 1796
The rare use of a harpsichord makes this performance very special. Russian-born musicians perform in a church in Reading, Pennsylvania.
#Beethoven250 Day 71
Adagio in E♭ for Mandolin and Harpsichord (WoO 43b), 1796
A graduation concert at a music school in Split, Croatia, with Marinko Lasan Zorobabel (mandolin) and Tomislav Šošić (piano).